-Quick Review-
You have no idea what I’ve gone through to play this game.
Star Wars Rebellion is a Real Time Strategy, Grand Strategy Game Developed by Coolhand Interactive and released in 1998. Much like my obsession with the old Star Wars Flight Simulator Games, this is back in time when YOU MUST READ THE MANUAL WITH THE GAME TO PLAY IT, you’ll command troop movements, capital ships, special units, and the main cast from the Original Star Wars Saga across the Galaxy as you take the mantle of the classic Star Wars Conflict: Empire vs Rebels.

Review Video:
If you don't like reading, or are curious about watching gameplay check out my video here:
https://youtu.be/do5_Z4PHDdo

-Detailed breakdown review-
Star Wars Rebellion’s Story: Star Wars Rebellion takes place immediately after the Star Wars: A New Hope. Or for my fellow Star Wars Nerds, The Day After the Battle of Yavin. You do have some control over how the story progresses, but at some point Luke will go to Dagobah, Bounty Hunters will go after Han Solo to try to cash in on that pesky Bounty Jabba put on him, and if Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker encounter each other Luke will make the dreadful discovery of who Vader truly is.
The story is nonlinear, and some things can be completely avoided! Like in my game playing as the Rebels, Han Solo was never captured and Luke finished his training on Dagobah without interruption. We also stayed away from building anything major on Hoth, Bespin, Yavin, Endor and Tatooine.

How I Learned To Play: I like challenges, and I like to try to figure stuff out on my own and on the fly. So, when I first played Rebellion I just installed and booted up the game and jumped right in. I received a briefing from Imperial C3-PO because being an avid TIE Fighter pilot I had to support “the Good guys”!
After the briefing I realized “Oh… this game is going to be far more complicated than I expected”. I walked into this game completely ignorant. I thought I’d played most of the Star Wars Games on Steam!
Then I started to get notifications on the side bar, stuff about ships moving, building constructions being finished, and then I got notifications about planets joining the Rebel Alliance, Planets are Rioting, AND I’M OVER HERE TRYING TO READ THE IMPERIAL C3-PO DROIDS ADVICE AND STUFF IS STILL HAPPENING OMG WHAT IS GOING ON?!?
It was in this moment I realized I can’t figure out this game on my own, my choices were clear… Read or watch a guide someone made… Or read the game manual.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3357048146

Gameplay: Let’s quickly explain the “Win Condition” for Star Wars Rebellion. As the Rebels you want to take control of Coruscant, and also capture Palpatine and Vader. As the Imperials you need to FIND and destroy the mobile rebels secret base and randomly placed Base while also capturing Luke Skywalker and Mon Mothma.
The next thing to remember is Star Wars Rebellion is “Real Time”. The only time the game is paused is when you have the pause screen popped up, or you’re looking at the load/save/options menu. You can’t pause and read notifications sent by your helper droids, if you’re reading or taking too long to decide on something, you can know your enemy is already at work.
There’s so much going on while playing Star Wars Rebellion it’s daunting to try to simplify it enough for a review. It’s real time, you’ll move Fleets from planet to planet, you’ll move troops on and off Fleets, you’ll send characters across the galaxy on various missions to gather intelligence, improve diplomatic relations, and more. You’ll need to manage mines and Refineries to maximize resources. You want a 1:1 ration; One Mine for every Refinery anywhere in the galaxy under your control. You’ll also manage Construction Yards building various facilities from Shipyards to planetary defenses like shields and cannons.
While doing all this you’ll also be trying to work your way towards your end goal objective… to win the game. It’s really easy to get caught up in micromanaging all these different systems and riding the highs and lows. All that coming from someone who just struggled to play the game on the easiest difficulty! This is a game for people who LOVE strategy games!

Atratzu’s tips for how to play Star Wars Rebellion: The rest of these notes you should consider more like “Atratzu’s tips for how to survive Star Wars Rebellion”. First one of few things to note going into the game is there are tool tips which pop up as you hover over buttons, those help to learn what each button does and means. You can also select the time speed between Slow, Medium, and Fast. Take Advantage of that, slow the time down to think, and make decisions, after you’re done, then increase the time speed so you don’t have to wait.
I also started to use Keyboard shortcuts after clicking buttons for the first 10-15 hours of gameplay. Alt 1-9 to switch what you’re tracking on the Galactic map. Alt + (+/-) to increase or decrease the game’s speed.
One of the hardest things I had to wrap my head around was how to win over and hold a planet's support. When you start out, you’ll see a galaxy star map with a bunch of different colored and sized stars. Depending on what you’re viewing the larger the star the “more of that thing” it has. Be it Sorted by Popular Support, Idle personal, Idle Fleets, Fleets enroute, Idle Shipyards etc.
It’s important to note you can control a planet and not have that planet's political/popular support. A planet's support is shown by the green, red, or red and green colored bar beneath it. Always Remember in this game: Green = Imperial, Red = Rebels. So, if you see a planet which is Green, but has a full Red Bar under it, it supports the Rebels but is under Imperial control, if the imperials left, they would switch back to Rebels!
One of the last stumbling points for me was sending special characters on Missions and trying to build stuff on one planet and send it to another planet. I could figure some of the rest of the stuff out on my own, but I really needed to read the manual and follow the tutorial for it. You’ll need to select a “Target”, so oftentimes you’ll need to have multiple windows up, one for the system you’re in with your troops, the other with your target, be that target a ship, planet, ground troop, Darth Vader, etc.
A lot of the rest of the game will just come in time as you get used to the user interface, and rules. I suggest checking out the game’s manual and following along with the tutorials to get a grasp on how to play.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3352839502

Conclusion: Did you know that when Star Wars Rebellion first came out, it received mixed reviews, and some people downright hated it? Since then, it’s definitely risen to be much more popular due to more of a cult following.
I can understand some people not being interested in Star Wars Rebellion, especially today with how much work I had to do to figure out how to play this game. I messaged my brother with a screenshot of reading the manual and said, “I’d better get a diploma for all the work I’m doing to learn this game”. I’ll expect my certificate of accomplishment in the mail, in the comments, or in the steam awards this review hopefully earns (If anyone reads it).
Star Wars Rebellion was great! I’ve never played anything like it, and I was floored by the expanded universe characters who made appearances! But once again, I think this game is perfect for the Ven Diagram of “People who like Strategy Games” intersecting with the circle for “People who like Star Wars”. If you’re between those two I strongly suggest giving this game a try. If not, the reception could be really hit or miss.

[u][b]-Quick Review-[/b][/u] You have no idea what I’ve gone through to play this game. Star Wars Rebellion is a Real Time Strategy, Grand Strategy Game Developed by Coolhand Interactive and released in 1998. Much like my obsession with the old Star Wars Flight Simulator Games, this is back in time when YOU MUST READ THE MANUAL WITH THE GAME TO PLAY IT, you’ll command troop movements, capital ships, special units, and the main cast from the Original Star Wars Saga across the Galaxy as you take the mantle of the classic Star Wars Conflict: Empire vs Rebels. [u][b]Review Video:[/b][/u] If you don't like reading, or are curious about watching gameplay check out my video here: https://youtu.be/do5_Z4PHDdo [u][b]-Detailed breakdown review-[/b][/u] [b]Star Wars Rebellion’s Story:[/b] Star Wars Rebellion takes place immediately after the Star Wars: A New Hope. Or for my fellow Star Wars Nerds, The Day After the Battle of Yavin. You do have some control over how the story progresses, but at some point Luke will go to Dagobah, Bounty Hunters will go after Han Solo to try to cash in on that pesky Bounty Jabba put on him, and if Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker encounter each other Luke will make the dreadful discovery of who Vader truly is. The story is nonlinear, and some things can be completely avoided! Like in my game playing as the Rebels, Han Solo was never captured and Luke finished his training on Dagobah without interruption. We also stayed away from building anything major on Hoth, Bespin, Yavin, Endor and Tatooine. [b]How I Learned To Play:[/b] I like challenges, and I like to try to figure stuff out on my own and on the fly. So, when I first played Rebellion I just installed and booted up the game and jumped right in. I received a briefing from Imperial C3-PO because being an avid TIE Fighter pilot I had to support “the Good guys”! After the briefing I realized “Oh… this game is going to be far more complicated than I expected”. I walked into this game completely ignorant. I thought I’d played most of the Star Wars Games on Steam! Then I started to get notifications on the side bar, stuff about ships moving, building constructions being finished, and then I got notifications about planets joining the Rebel Alliance, Planets are Rioting, AND I’M OVER HERE TRYING TO READ THE IMPERIAL C3-PO DROIDS ADVICE AND STUFF IS STILL HAPPENING OMG WHAT IS GOING ON?!? It was in this moment I realized I can’t figure out this game on my own, my choices were clear… Read or watch a guide someone made… Or read the game manual. https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3357048146 [b]Gameplay:[/b] Let’s quickly explain the “Win Condition” for Star Wars Rebellion. As the Rebels you want to take control of Coruscant, and also capture Palpatine and Vader. As the Imperials you need to FIND and destroy the mobile rebels secret base and randomly placed Base while also capturing Luke Skywalker and Mon Mothma. The next thing to remember is Star Wars Rebellion is “Real Time”. The only time the game is paused is when you have the pause screen popped up, or you’re looking at the load/save/options menu. You can’t pause and read notifications sent by your helper droids, if you’re reading or taking too long to decide on something, you can know your enemy is already at work. There’s so much going on while playing Star Wars Rebellion it’s daunting to try to simplify it enough for a review. It’s real time, you’ll move Fleets from planet to planet, you’ll move troops on and off Fleets, you’ll send characters across the galaxy on various missions to gather intelligence, improve diplomatic relations, and more. You’ll need to manage mines and Refineries to maximize resources. You want a 1:1 ration; One Mine for every Refinery anywhere in the galaxy under your control. You’ll also manage Construction Yards building various facilities from Shipyards to planetary defenses like shields and cannons. While doing all this you’ll also be trying to work your way towards your end goal objective… to win the game. It’s really easy to get caught up in micromanaging all these different systems and riding the highs and lows. All that coming from someone who just struggled to play the game on the easiest difficulty! This is a game for people who LOVE strategy games! [b]Atratzu’s tips for how to play Star Wars Rebellion:[/b] The rest of these notes you should consider more like “Atratzu’s tips for how to survive Star Wars Rebellion”. First one of few things to note going into the game is there are tool tips which pop up as you hover over buttons, those help to learn what each button does and means. You can also select the time speed between Slow, Medium, and Fast. Take Advantage of that, slow the time down to think, and make decisions, after you’re done, then increase the time speed so you don’t have to wait. I also started to use Keyboard shortcuts after clicking buttons for the first 10-15 hours of gameplay. Alt 1-9 to switch what you’re tracking on the Galactic map. Alt + (+/-) to increase or decrease the game’s speed. One of the hardest things I had to wrap my head around was how to win over and hold a planet's support. When you start out, you’ll see a galaxy star map with a bunch of different colored and sized stars. Depending on what you’re viewing the larger the star the “more of that thing” it has. Be it Sorted by Popular Support, Idle personal, Idle Fleets, Fleets enroute, Idle Shipyards etc. It’s important to note you can control a planet and not have that planet's political/popular support. A planet's support is shown by the green, red, or red and green colored bar beneath it. Always Remember in this game: Green = Imperial, Red = Rebels. So, if you see a planet which is Green, but has a full Red Bar under it, it supports the Rebels but is under Imperial control, if the imperials left, they would switch back to Rebels! One of the last stumbling points for me was sending special characters on Missions and trying to build stuff on one planet and send it to another planet. I could figure some of the rest of the stuff out on my own, but I really needed to read the manual and follow the tutorial for it. You’ll need to select a “Target”, so oftentimes you’ll need to have multiple windows up, one for the system you’re in with your troops, the other with your target, be that target a ship, planet, ground troop, Darth Vader, etc. A lot of the rest of the game will just come in time as you get used to the user interface, and rules. I suggest checking out the game’s manual and following along with the tutorials to get a grasp on how to play. https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3352839502 [b]Conclusion:[/b] Did you know that when Star Wars Rebellion first came out, it received mixed reviews, and some people downright hated it? Since then, it’s definitely risen to be much more popular due to more of a cult following. I can understand some people not being interested in Star Wars Rebellion, especially today with how much work I had to do to figure out how to play this game. I messaged my brother with a screenshot of reading the manual and said, “I’d better get a diploma for all the work I’m doing to learn this game”. I’ll expect my certificate of accomplishment in the mail, in the comments, or in the steam awards this review hopefully earns (If anyone reads it). Star Wars Rebellion was great! I’ve never played anything like it, and I was floored by the expanded universe characters who made appearances! But once again, I think this game is perfect for the Ven Diagram of “People who like Strategy Games” intersecting with the circle for “People who like Star Wars”. If you’re between those two I strongly suggest giving this game a try. If not, the reception could be really hit or miss.